This is a record of my journey as a Muslim. I used to be Catholic and belonged to a missionary organisation. After my conversion, I sat on the board of a Muslim converts' organisation and specialised in da'wah programmes, convert management, interfaith issues and apostasy cases. I am an initiate of a Sufi order. As such, the articles and writings tend to cover these areas.
All the Arabic and graphics could not have been done without the help of my wife, Zafirah.

Friday, 24 February 2017

The Legality of Celebrating the Birth of the Prophet (s.a.w.) IV

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following is extracted from “The Legality
of Celebrating the Birth of the Prophet (s.a.w.)”,
by Shaykh ‘Ali Juma’ah.

Uhud was one of the mountains which the Prophet
(s.a.w.) bore witness to its love for
him and the believers. The Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “This is a mountain who
loves us and we love it.” This is
recorded in both Swahih al-Bukhari
and Swahih Muslim.

In fact, this very mountain answered with
humility and obedience to the command of the Prophet (s.a.w.), who struck it with his blessed foot because Uhud shook
when the Prophet (s.a.w.) and his companions
were upon it. It is authentically
related from Anas (r.a.), that the
Prophet (s.a.w.) ascended Uhud with
Abu Bakr (r.a.), ‘Umar (r.a.) and ‘Utsman (r.a.). It shook with them
upon it. The Prophet (s.a.w.) struck it with his foot and
said, “Be firm Uhud, for there is no one upon you but a prophet, a swiddiq, and two martyrs.” Uhud answered immediately with love and in
obedience to its master, al-Musthafa (s.a.w.). This is also recorded in both Swahih al-Bukhari and Swahih Muslim.

The pebbles love the Prophet (s.a.w.) and are joyous over him,
glorifying Allah (s.w.t.) in his
noble hand. They continued to glorify
Allah (s.w.t.) in joy and love for
the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) even
when the pebbles reached the hand of ‘Utsman (r.a.). It is related from
Abu Dzar al-Ghifari (r.a.) who said, “I
witnessed that the Prophet (s.a.w.)
was in a circle of people and in his hand were pebbles. They glorified Allah in his hand. Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Utsman and ‘Ali were with us
and all those in the circle heard its glorification. The Prophet (s.a.w.) then passed the pebbles to Abu Bakr and they glorified in
his hands, all of those in the circle heard their glorification. The Prophet (s.a.w.) then passed it to ‘Umar and they glorified in his hands,
all of those in the circle heard their glorification. The Prophet (s.a.w.) then passed it to ‘Utsman and they glorified in his hands,
all of those in the circle heard their glorification. The Prophet (s.a.w.) then passed it to us and they did not glorify in the hands
of any of us.” This was recorded by Imam
Abu Nu’aym (r.a.).

The trunk of the date palm tree also loved him,
clung to him and yearned for closeness to him, crying severely in yearning for
the Prophet (s.a.w.). This narration was transmitted by so many companions
that certainty in it has become absolute. The majority of the companions of the
Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) related
that when the Prophet (s.a.w.) was
giving a khuthbah, he would stand and
lean upon the trunk of a date palm tree. If he stood for a length of time, he would
place his blessed hand upon that trunk. Eventually
the number of people who would pray increased and so the companions made, for
the Prophet (s.a.w.), a minbar.

One day, when the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) came out of his blessed room on
the Day of Jumu’ah, he headed towards the minbar
and passed by the trunk of the tree which he used to give sermons from. Suddenly, the tree began wailing severely and
began to yearn painfully until the masjid
shook and the tree split. It did not
calm down until the Prophet (s.a.w.)
descended from the minbar and came to
the trunk, placing his blessed hand upon it and stroked it. He then embraced the tree to his noble chest
until it became calm. The Prophet (s.a.w.) then gave it a choice - and the
tree was inanimate and dead - to be a tree in Paradise where its roots would
drink from the rivers of Paradise or to return as a fruitful tree in the world.
The tree trunk chose to be a tree in
Paradise and so the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.)
said, ‘I will do it, insha’Allah; I
will do it, insha’Allah; I will do it, insha’Allah.’

The tree became quiet. The Prophet (s.a.w.) then said, ‘By the One Who Holds
my soul in His Hand; if I had not embraced it, it would have cried and ached until
the Final Hour yearning for the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.).’”

This is similar to another tree which also
yearned to greet the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.)
and so it sought permission from its Lord. It is related from Ya’la ibn Murrah al-Tsaqafi
(r.a.) who said, “Once, we were
travelling with the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.)
when we stopped at a place to rest. The
Prophet (s.a.w.) slept when a tree
came splitting the earth until it covered him. It then returned to its place.

When the Prophet (s.a.w.) woke up, I mentioned what had happened to him and he said,
‘The tree blossomed. It sought Permission
from its Lord to greet me and so it was Granted Permission.’” This is recorded by Imam Ahmad (r.a.), Imam ath-Thabrani (r.a.), Imam Abu Nu’aym (r.a.), and Imam al-Bayhaqi (r.a.).

Stones and trees which the Prophet (s.a.w.) would pass by would prostrate to
him. An example was when he was on the
journey to Sham with Abu Thalib (r.a.).
This prostration was a prostration of
greeting and this was allowed before the announcement of prophethood. It is related from Abu Musa al-Ash’ari (r.a.), who said Abu Thalib (r.a.) left for Sham with the Messenger
of Allah (s.a.w.), and some of the
leaders of Quraysh. When they came
across a monk’s place of worship, they decided to stop. The monk came out to them whereas before, he
would let the caravans pass by and would not bother with them. They were tying their animals and the monk
began inspecting them until he came and took the hand of the Messenger of Allah
(s.a.w.). He then said, “This is the master of all of
the worlds, this is the Messenger of Allah, the Lord of the worlds. He is the one whom Allah will Send as a Mercy
to Creation.”

The leaders of Quraysh then asked, “How do you
know this?”

He replied, “When you came over the hill, there
was not a single tree or stone except that it was prostrating and they never
prostrate to anyone except to a prophet.” This was recorded by Imam ibn Abi Shaybah (r.a.).